


Nights On Elpis

by scp116



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: BLgiftexchange2020, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:42:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28258656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scp116/pseuds/scp116
Summary: He...wasn't sure why he was still there. His purpose on Elpis was certain, destroy this old Dahl extractor which had taken him days to access, burn it to the ground and kill anyone who had anything else to say about it. But...his contract was up.
Relationships: Handsome Jack/Timothy Lawrence/Rhys
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Nights On Elpis

**Author's Note:**

> This is for StressSnake in the Rhack Hive, for the 2020 BL gift exchange! Happy holidays, I hope you like it!

The cracks on Elpis were surprisingly easy to trip over. Timothy had tripped over seven already on his short mission there, at the request of his- of Jack. At the request of Handsome Jack. Last time he'd been on Elpis it was at the request of John, but things had changed. Elpis hadn't changed much at all, from what he saw- still a godless wasteland with no laws and hardworking people like Janey and Athena Springs. Moxxi had left for Pandora of course, making his nights a tad more boring to drink away, but there were others for him to ogle when he got drunk and lonely enough. If he was lucky, Jack would get him a room for the night- if he wasn't and Jack wasn't in a caring mood that evening, he'd curl up behind some rough boulder and pull his jacket over his chilled body. He never actually slept those nights, but it was alright to pretend he did, he thought. It was better than running around for the entire night, each step weighing on him more and pulling his mind away from Helios in the sky.

Dahl's extraction plant on Elpis had somehow kicked back into gear after a good ten years of abandonment, and even with Dahl thoroughly eradicated by Jack's hand at this point, Jack's face still twisted in disgust when he received the news. The thought of that nasty old company, he said, still laying claim to 'his' planet, kept him awake at night. Or, it would have, if he hadn't turned to Timothy with a smile and asked him politely to go “figure it the fuck out”.

Standing in front of a control panel of shitty old Dahl equipment, he looked around and sniffed at the stale air. It smelled like... _bandits_ , he thought. They must have figured out how to make it work again, to what ends, he didn't know- but they left some of their equipment in the corner of the room. Old bags and blankets, stuffed with god knows what bandit trash they carried around this godforsaken planet. With a vaguely wistful sigh, he reached up to scratch at his unshaven face, squinting and glancing around the dingy, poorly lit control room. It was more of a broom closet in the side of the extraction plant, with a few glass tubes running from the ceiling to the wall. He spotted a lead pipe leaning up against the wall and set his things down, pulling one arm across his chest to stretch. As he bounced it lightly and tucked it under his forearm, he glanced down at a puddle of water on the ground, kicking at it with the toe of his boot. Squinting at his reflection and shaking his head, he picked up the lead and got to work on the glass pipes.

He...wasn't sure why he was still there. His purpose on Elpis was certain, destroy this old Dahl extractor which had taken him days to access, burn it to the ground and kill anyone who had anything else to say about it. But...his contract was up. Timothy was technically freed when Jack died on Pandora, he even said it himself once Rhys brought him back. He'd been strutting around Helios in a recently deceased body double, staring down anyone who spoke ill of him when they thought they were safe, when Timothy pulled him aside to discuss the terms of the contract.

“What do you mean, the contract? That thing was shredded after I kicked the bucket. Don't get me wrong kitten, I'd totally hold you to it, but I can't really hold you to scraps of paper.” He didn't even _look_ at Timothy as he handed him his freedom, just adjusted his hair in the reflection of the fountain in the Hub of Heroism. He'd looked at himself a lot since he came back, even for Jack, smoothing his hand over the gray streak in his hair. Timothy buried his head in his hands and rubbed, pushing his hands up to comb through his hair.  
“Well what now? I still look like you, Jack, and people are still gunning for you.”  
“I dunno.” King of Hyperion indeed. “I have some work to be done on Promethea?”

And then he sent Timothy off with Hyperion's finest firearms, a decent shield and a shit list of people to kill on sight if he saw the whites of their eyes. Several missions, two years, and a few confusing meetings later, and Timothy wasn't certain what to call Jack anymore. Sir, or Jack, or...an official title. They hadn't discussed it. Jack didn't like discussing things like that, he thought, as he swung the lead at terminal velocity towards the pipes on the wall. They crumpled under the weight, shards of glass cracking on the ground as they fell. He jumped back to avoid the falling crystals, trickles of leaking Eridium spilling on the ground. The tubes were easily as big around as Timothy himself, but there wasn't much Eridium left to be extracted. The last of it dripped at his feet at the pressure hissed and faded, Timothy sneering and dipping to the ground to harvest from what the bandits left behind.

He really, _really_ hoped Jack got him a room at a hotel that night. He'd gotten him a night at a local brothel once, laughed his ass off about it in the morning when Timothy called to tell him off. Of course that idiot thought this shit was funny, stupid asshole. That's exactly what he told Jack the next morning, too. He just smiled into the echo and shook his head, making finger guns at the camera and winking before signing off. Goddamn it. Fucking Jack.

As he struck a match and tossed it into the small puddle of Eridium, he turned tail and ran out of the building, his weapons clanging against his legs. They'd leave bruises, most likely, and Jack would get possessive and ask where they came from. Who gave him those bruises, because Jack sure as shit didn't, and by the end of the night he'd have more to show. Before Jack died, Timothy just thought he was possessive because he legally had the right to be. Now he was outside of his legal boundaries, even opening himself up for legal questioning if he chose to abuse his position with Timothy- but Timothy couldn't see himself making a fuss about it, no matter how much he thought about it. Jack's lips on his neck was addicting, no matter how hard they bit down.

Jack's newest charge, Rhys, got on well with Timothy. Better than Jack did, even, doing his best to relate and understand him. He would have asked Rhys out if Jack wasn't equally possessive, new marks appearing on Rhys' neck every time they saw each other. Rhys had even been there for a few of those confusing meetings, participated in some of their outings, even sat on Jack's other knee, drunk off his mind at the Hyperion holiday party last year. That was a fun night, Tim thought, slowing his run to a stroll as he peeked over his shoulder at the burning extraction plant behind him. His echo started to chime on his leg, Jack speaking before he managed to pick it up and officially answer.

“-having a good day, kitten. I know I am. How'd that extraction plant coming along?” Timothy held it up to his face and sighed audibly, directly into the microphone.  
“Oh, yeah. I'm just having a grand old day. It's burning to embers as we speak. Yet another display of Hyperion's...excellence.” His 'Jack lines' had gotten better over the years, but since Jack's death and revival they became more of an in-joke between them than anything. Jack even repeated them back to Timothy mimicking his awkward lilt, something Jack didn't have the same predisposition to.  
“Good to know, kiddo. Good to know. Hey, I eh...” He trailed off, voice lowering as he leaned into the echo. “I got you a room nearby for the night. They'll be expecting Handsome Jack.” Timothy let out a breath and grinned, leaning his head back and cracking his neck.  
“Ohh, god, thank you.”  
“Thank me later.”

Timothy tilted his head and opened his mouth before Jack cut out, details for a hotel pinging to his echo. Shaking his head and sighing again, he put it back on his hip and set his sights on the town on the horizon. Having gotten his breath, he broke into a sprint, the skyline of Elpis disappearing to the sides of his vision as he ran.

-

The woman at the desk raised an eyebrow when she saw him waltz up and lean on the counter with his prize-winning Jack smile, weapon visibly loaded on his hip.  
“Hiya, cupcake. Got a reservation for your favorite dictator.” God, this mask itched, he thought. How did Jack do it every single day? It must have been the lotion he smeared across his skin every morning he crawled out of bed- he'd have to ask Jack about it next time he stayed the night.  
“I, uh...” She faltered at the gun on his hip, before looking up to meet his faux-cocky gaze. “Yes, of course sir. Your guests have already arrived.” Timothy tried to keep the confused look off his face, nodding and taking the thin key out of her hand. Pulling a bill from his breast pocket and tossing it on the counter, he tucked the key away and turned towards the elevator. Jack had probably already paid for the room, and _boy_ was it uncharacteristic of Jack to leave such a generous tip, but it was too much of a habit to break.  
“Thanks, pumpkin.”

The elevator creaked uncomfortably as it went to the top of the dingy hotel, reeking of sweat and things Timothy didn't really want to think about. Disgusting, the depraved things people most likely did in this elevator, or whatever they did to make it smell like that many bodily fluids at once. Jack probably tried to get something nicer to no success, this small town being the only thing in the general vicinity of the extraction plant. What chilled Timothy to the core was the realization that this establishment was _probably the nicest place in town._ Timothy shuddered and clutched Jack's coat closer to him, at least comforting in his smell buried in the hems. He groaned at the cold and pulled it up to cover his face, leaning against the back wall of the elevator. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and straightened himself when the doors slid open.

Striding down the hall to room 405, he pulled the key out of his jacket pocket and tapped it to the lock, watching it buzz green. As the door clicked open, he peered into the darkness, slipping his jacket off with one hand and pulling it over his shoulder. His other hand rested on the handle of his weapon, slowly drawing back the hammer to defend himself if needed. He'd fought off a few angry former crimson raiders already, and even trusting Jack, he didn't trust the hotel nearly as much. He lifted his hand to the wall, the gun scraping against the surface as he skimmed for a light switch. Flicking it up, the lamp on the desk beside the window clicked on to reveal the room. It was small, but bigger than the chilly broom closet of an elevator, at least. There was a TV mounted on the wall, some sitcom playing quietly as he scanned the room. Two... _people_ were pressed against each other on the queen bed.

Jack was on his back, snoring up at the ceiling softly with his echo lying on the bed. His other arm tucked around Rhys, lying on his chest. Rhys' head went up and down as Jack's chest did, a soft-looking blanket pulled up over their hips. Jack must have echoed him and fallen asleep, Timothy thought, smiling and shaking his head. Jack hadn't mentioned being there, certainly not with Rhys, but Timothy couldn't help but grin at the two of them. Jack snorted and turned his head, mouth shutting as he settled back into sleep. Rhys' eyes fluttered open as he looked up at Jack, then over to Timothy with a smile. Rubbing his cheek across Jack's broad chest, he extended an arm and made a grabby hand at Timothy, who jumped to shed his weapons and baggage to the ground. Rhys laid his hand on Jack's chest, twitching his fingers along the collar of his shirt.

Timothy stripped down to his boxers and tripped towards the bed, lifting the blanket Jack must have brought himself and tucking under it. His head rested on the other side of Jack's chest, feeling his thudding heartbeat against his ear soothing him to rest. It took him...an embarrassingly long amount of time to find that extraction plant. Surely Jack knew that, with how close the town was and how long ago he'd given Timothy the mission, but it didn't make the annoyance any better. The ache came less from a barely completed mission, Jack keeping his favorite body double around for good either way, but...Elpis was cold. Freezing, especially where he slept in the oxygen cracks. The jacket Jack had given to him had almost lost it's scent entirely, but easing his nose up towards the smell of Jack's aftershave gave him a hit of warmth he'd been craving. Jack knew he liked it, but it took the oaf a bit to realize why Timothy had refused a bottle of his own. He must have laid it on a little thicker for him before they left Helios, Timothy thought. As bad as he wanted to suck the chemicals off Jack's neck and hear him whine, the deep rumble of his chest as his snoring resumed was too much to interrupt.

Rhys lifted his hand to Timothy's face, thumb stroking his cheek as his eyes fell shut again. Timothy sighed and eased into the touch, feeling himself light utterly aflame at the gesture of affection. He tried not to think about it, but the fact was nobody had touched him in such a loving way since the night before he left for Elpis. Jack had eased his hand up Timothy's shirt to rest on the small of his back before he took off, hugging him goodbye, as he'd since started doing. Wether it was the prospect of death that made him start, or Rhys, or...loving Timothy, he didn't care. It didn't matter, really- so long as he could reap the benefits of Jack's newfound willingness for PDA. Rhys pushed his hand up into Timothy's hairline, ruffling it softly and scratching at his scalp. God, he thought- he really should have considered hopping in the shower before crawling into bed with his...lovers. His lovers. Jack had insisted a few times that he was 'too old to be your damn boyfriend, Timtam', and Rhys didn't care about giving it a name. It felt romantic, to call the heart beating beneath him and the hand on his cheek his 'lovers', but as his senses honed in on those feelings alone, it felt right.

Rhys retracted his hand and rested it on Timothy's neck, stopping his gentle motions and letting the warmth seep into his chilled skin. Jack's other arm started to wriggle under him, pulling out to wrap around Timothy's shoulder. His head tilted down, his scratchy beard brushing against Timothy's forehead as he laid a kiss to the top of his head.  
“Hiya, Timtam.” He said with a sigh. Timothy kissed the warm chest under his cheek, mumbling and letting out a breath.  
“Missed you.”  
“Thought you might.”

Timothy's thudding heart slowed as Jack's thumb stroked over his bicep for a second, pulling him in tighter as he closed his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to reach out on Tumblr @scp116 or Discord at joyboy#1864- thanks for reading, and comments are appreciated!


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